Budget Shortfall Forces Meharry to Lay Off Workers
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
A budget shortfall has forced Meharry Medical College to lay off 18 non-faculty employees at the private, historically Black college, officials said.
Most of the cuts were support staff positions, including administrative assistants and business managers, spokeswoman Jill Scoggins said. Another dozen vacant positions also were eliminated, she said.
“As we always do, non-personnel expenses were looked at first, and we cut as much as we could in the non-personnel area,” Scoggins said. “Position elimination is always the last option for us.”
Laid-off employees were given severance pay of one to three months, based on their time with Meharry and their union status, Scoggins said.
The college expects to save $885,000 a year in salaries and benefits through the layoffs.
Scoggins said that while funding for research at Meharry is up, revenue from patient care and donations has remained flat, prompting the cuts.
— Associated Press
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